The TRUE VULTURES (_Vultures_) have stout powerful bodies, which are of unusual breadth at the breast; the wings are long, broad, and rounded, their fourth quill being of greater length than the rest; the tail is of medium size, and slightly rounded at its extremity; the individual quills are stiff and ragged, or split towards their tip; the legs are strong, of moderate length, and destitute of feathers; the toes, though long and powerful, are almost useless for grasping; the talons are slightly bent and very blunt. The beak, which is as long as the head, is higher than it is broad, and straight except at its extremity, which terminates in a moderately long and very sharp hook; the mandibles bulge slightly outwards at their margins. The plumage is composed of very long and broad feathers, and does not entirely cover the body, the head and neck are either quite bare or overspread with a slight growth of hair-like down. In some species the legs and belly are covered with down, intermingled upon the latter with long narrow feathers. The bare or thinly-covered portions of the body are often brightly coloured, but the plumage itself is usually sombre and indistinct in its coloration, though occasionally variegated. The eyes are large and expressive, the formation of the nostril differs considerably according to the species. All the members of this group see, hear, and smell with great acuteness, and their intelligence is by no means inferior to that of the Bearded Vulture. * * * * * The CONDORS, or WATTLED VULTURES (_Sarcorhamphi_), as three of the largest species of True Vultures have been called, are at once recognisable by their comparatively slender bodies, long narrow wings, and long tails. The tarsi are high and the toes large; their neck is of moderate size, and the head long; the beak, compressed at the side, terminates in a powerful hook, which, in the male, is decorated above the base of the upper mandible with a kind of fleshy comb, and, in the region of the chin, with wattles or folds of skin. The nostrils are very peculiar in their formation, not having the usual division between them. The plumage is composed of small, brightly coloured feathers, and does not cover the whole body, some parts being left entirely bare. Unlike most of their family, the males of the three known species of Condors are larger than the females. THE CONDOR.